This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Wednesday

It wasn't going to last long, and it didn't. "Hooters-gate" (here and here and here) has come to an end. City Department of Animal Services General Manager - Ed Boks - has declined to take donations from a swimsuit contest at the Kodak Theatre, organized by the T&A eatery chain, Hooters. A number of city officials were flabbergasted not only by the event, but by racy fliers created for it. The best quote was from 5th District Councilman who said "I'm not the sort of person who notices the scantily clad woman, but I am the kind of person who notices that the animal services agency can't spell the word 'adopt'." Awesome.

Tuesday LA County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen told the County Board of Supervisors he will be retiring next January. Janssen has been on the job since 1996, prior to that he served 13 years with San Diego County.

A 92 year old widow in Woodland Hills has created a stir because she wants to sell her property for condo development. Of course, the local neighbors are against it. The woman's family says that maintenance has just got too expensive and the property is the woman's only asset. Of course, they're trying to get the DWP to sell adjacent land to be used as parkland, hoping that will put restrictions or perhaps derail the development. Our favorite motorcycle cop turned policeman, Dennis Zine is involved, pushing the DWP to sell the land to the dreaded Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Dennis, you're supposed to be a Republican, don't go there. Support private property rights and let the old lady sell her house.

14 Comments:

Boks should also cancel the "Klansmen for Kittens" barbeque. Just a suggestion.

As for the Woodland Hills situation, this is what Villaragosa and Co. are promoting throughout the entire city, to benefit their developer donors in the name of "affordable housing." Denser and denser housing is their view of the future, because it means greater profits at the expense of the quality of life in the city. Meanwhile, Villaraigosa now lives in a gated community.

Wow, this Hooters-Boks thing got our minds of what's really important, like the Academia school and the other elements of the vast Reconquista conspiracy to give L.A. back to Mexico and force us to eat beans and tortillas for every meal.

And, Geez, if Republicans like Zine and Moore have such a dim view of property rights, who needs tree-hugging liberals like Zev and Joe Edmiston?

Let's not put words in Villar's mouth, shall we? If Zine and the NIMBYs hate this project, I doubt he'll champion it. Villar wants big towers Downtown and along the subways, he doesn't want to pave over the Santa Monica Mountains for condos. Anyone who argues that these condos would be "affordable housing" is an idiot, they will probably sell for a million apiece.

If guys like Zine and Moore have their way, you won't be able to add a bedroom to your house without preserving some wildlife corridors, donating some park space, and going through several layers of the zoning politiboro. It makes good sense for these guys because the more regulations they put on property, the more they encourage property owners to "grease the wheels" with campaign contributions.

Congratulations Mayor Sam!!! Because of your posting the media picked up on the Hooters fundraiser and even laobserved.com gives mention to you.

Antonio really thinks we're stupid. Will someone tell him we all know his game.Mayor Villaraigosa and the MTA unions will announce "historic settlement" at the transit agency's office tower at 1:15 this afternoon...it's historic because it's "the first time that a work stoppage and strike (due to the inability to reach an agreement on labor negotiations and contracts in past years) has been averted in 10 years."

the dwp land would be a great walking trail, but why does dwp need to sell it to make it work, why sell it and place such restrictions on the property owner that has paid taxes on the entire piece for so many years. What would you think if it were your mothers property?

Yeah, that's logical: anyone who opposes the replacement of single family dwellings with 32-unit condo towers is a Communist who opposes kitchen remodels and room additions. You give new meaning to "housing density."

I'm still shocked that the city would turn down money from ANY fundraiser whatsoever for Animal Services.

I'm blown away by the Victorian thinking of the councilmembers, the press, the posters here and especially the portion of the animal rights activists who opposed it and tried to blame it on Boks. It's hard to believe how far they'll go to try and make him look bad.

Some of you need to go to the Ethics Commission's website and see where some of your elected officials get their campaign money.

Where was the uproar when Mike Hernandez was busted for cocaine when he was a councilman and doing the blow in his office in the city and purchasing it while driving his city car?

It's a Hooters for crying out loud. My family eats there.

The cheerleaders doing splits and shaking their hooters all over the place at a high school football game are worse.

Not only was that noodle-brain self-anointed Mayor Daniel Guss on race-baiting Doug McIntyre's KABC show this morning (a good combo, no?) but Tom Leykis devoted an hour to the Hooters thing on his show today. Leykis and his callers took great glee in pounding the crap out of Laura Chick and the City for forcing Boks to turn down the money from Hooters' event. A guy from Hooters even came on to explain that they've found a new recipient for the money.

Tellingly, Leykis mentioned that Laura Chick never turns down the sales taxes Hooters (or REAL adult entertainment places) pay the City. Maybe she should take the City logo off the tax bills they're sent so as not to associate City Hall with such filth. Or maybe they should just stop collecting taxes from business they think exploit women.

Bring on the density. Use New York as the model, plus earthquake-proofing of course.

Get a sensible transit model in place (Antonio's "urban villages" enable this).

Get enough people in one place and they work together out of necessity, dense cities play practical politics without time for race-baiting or this stupid "de-fund the schools" crap.

Who knows, Walter, if what Antonio's doing goes through, you might even see another Republican mayor in your lifetime. With high enough density, everyone'll live near a Republican, and will see that not all of you are rabid, racist, anti-tax and anti-immigrant ideologues, and might even give one a chance at the mayor's office. Again, worked in New York...